1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cutting apparatus for cutting a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer.
2. Background Art
As a conventional apparatus for cutting workpieces such as a semiconductor wafer, a cutting apparatus as shown in FIG. 6 is known. In this cutting apparatus, a cassette 1 is mounted on a cassette mounting section A which moves up and down. In the cassette 1 are stored semiconductor wafers 2 as the workpieces. A semiconductor wafer 2, which is fixed on a frame 4 via a tape 3, is carried out therefrom to a standby section B by carrying means 5. Then, the carried semiconductor wafer 2 is conveyed to a chuck table 7 by a swing arm 6. The semiconductor wafer 2 held on the chuck table 7 is positioned by alignment means 8, and then cut by cutting means 9.
In the cutting by the aforesaid cutting means 9, the semiconductor wafer 2 is cut by a blade 10 rotating at a high speed while being supplied with cutting water. Here, due to wear of cutting edge thereof and suchlike, the blade 10 may sometimes generate variations in depth of cut. The occurrence of such variations lowers the cutting accuracy as well as adversely affects the subsequent processing steps.
On this account, setup for adjusting the blade 10 to its correct position is conducted in the cutting process. However, some of the cutting water supplied in cutting is clinging to the cutting edge of the blade 10, giving rise to a problem in that the setup cannot be carried out surely and precisely.